Cougars dominate TSU by double digits.
Offense’s big night features 671 yards, 10 touchdowns
Just a few blocks apart, the University of Houston and Texas Southern met Saturday night in the “Battle of Scott Street.”
The Cougars played the role of neighborhood bully.
In need of a bounce-back performance after a loss to Texas Tech, UH flexed its muscles and let out frustration and a week’s worth of frustration in a 70-14 blowout before a crowd of 29,970 at soggy TDECU Stadium.
The 70 points were the most for the Cougars since a 73-17 win over Tulane on Nov. 10, 2011.
“It was very important we respond,” UH coach Major Applewhite said.
The Cougars scored touchdowns on its first six possessions, 10 of 14 overall, and piled up 671 yards while emptying the bench in the second half. Six UH running backs combined for 285 yards.
D’Eriq King was 20-of-25 for 200 yards and accounted for four touchdowns in the first half. He had touchdown passes to three different receivers and scored on a 6-yard run on UH’s opening drive.
True freshman Clayton Tune made his collegiate debut, throwing for 186 yards and two touchdowns in the second half. Chandler Smith had 80 rushing yards and two TDs.
Earlier in the week, TSU coach Mike Haywood compared UH AllAmerica defensive tackle Ed Oliver to horror-film character Freddy Krueger.
Just call this one Nightmare on Scott Street, although Oliver had plenty of help as the Cougars held TSU to a third-quarter touchdown.
UH improved to 2-0 all-time against TSU and has won all six games against teams from the Southwestern Athletic Conference by a combined 328-51.
That the lopsided victory came against an opponent from Football Championship Subdivision, formerly Division I-AA, was of no concern. The Cougars were in desperate need of a convincing win after allowing 704 yards in a 63-49 loss to Texas Tech. Now, at 3-1, the Cougars enter the open date in the schedule before their American Athletic Conference opener against Tulsa on Oct. 4.
Saturday’s game was part of a compensation package for TSU allowing the UH men’s and women’s basketball program to use the H&PE Arena during renovations to the Fertitta Center.
The goodwill continued when UH’s Spirit of Houston and TSU’s Ocean of Soul marching bands did a joint performance at halftime.
By then, however, the outcome was already decided as the Cougars led 42-0.
Ahead 7-0, UH added to the score when King found Keith Corbin for an 8-yard touchdown pass. On the ensuing possession, TSU was forced to punt and Aaron Cuevas’ kick was blocked by Payton Turner and recovered by Emeke Egbule.
Three plays later, Kevrin Justice scored on a 1-yard run as part of a 28-point second quarter. Marquez Stevenson caught his fifth touchdown of the season, a 10-yard strike from King, and after Donovan Mutin recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff, the Cougars needed just 50 seconds to push the score to 35-0 on a 5-yard grab.
Smith scored on a 2-yard run just before halftime for a 42-0 lead. UH finished with five scoring drives under 2 minutes and has 20 for the season, surpassing the 18 it had in 12 games last year.
King, who has 15 touchdown passes in four games, made his only mistake of the game in the final minute of the first half when he was intercepted by TSU linebacker Julian Marcantel. That snapped a string of 147 consecutive passes without an interception for the junior, the eighth-longest streak in school history. The Cougars added to the lead to begin the second half, with true freshman quarterback Clayton Tune hooking up with Parker Eichenberger for a 2-yard score with 12:38 left in the third.
A 44-yard catch by Tariq Buchanan set up TSU’s first touchdown, a 1-yard run by Terio Brown with 6:08 left in the third quarter. With 4:50 left in the game, TSU’s backup quarterback Jay Christophe hooked up with Bobby Hartzog for a 95-yard TD. The play tied the longest pass completion against UH in school history.
Kelan Walker, a true freshman, added a 72-yard touchdown run in the fourth and finished with a gamehigh 105 yards.
The game was delayed 16 minutes late in third quarter by a partial power outage at TDECU Stadium.